tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-103934292024-03-07T12:37:47.130+05:30An Enigma!! - unravel the mystery..."The only thing constant in this world is - CHANGE!!"SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-88001895203156972462012-02-13T21:19:00.000+05:302012-02-13T21:19:54.355+05:30Just... Love...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While watching a 2004 movie, 50 first dates, I marveled at the power of true love. The movie centers around Drew Barrymore who suffers from short term memory loss, and Adam Sandler who is her much in love suitor. While Barrymore forgets all she learns on a given day (she begins her next day with an empty slate!), Sandler is in love with her and tries everything to make her re-remember him once she gets up in the morning. This endeavor results in him taking her on daily dates, which are always first dates for her, but just another in a series of events for him. It would have been very easy for him to just give up and move on… but of course he persevered, to give the delightful movie a happy ending. <br />
It is said that to find company for Friday night is easy, what is tough is to find the right someone to spend the whole Saturday with, and that too, week after week, year after year…!!! <br />
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True love, affection and care come in many forms. They can be seen in parents who always go that extra mile to give their children the best. They can be seen in that teacher who goes beyond what is expected from him/her and nurture a student. I still remember how my English teacher sent me a guide book for grammar a few days before my 10th Standard English Board Exam. I studied harder after I understood the belief she had in me and I did top my batch in English that year… Thank You Ma’am…!<br />
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I consider myself fortunate to have made the best of friends in my life… The time I wanted to purchase a laptop, I was completely unaware about the recent configurations, etc… In fact, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to make the investment…! But this friend of my came with me to all the major computer showrooms day after day till I made up my mind about what I wanted and from where. Till date I believe, had it not been for him, I might still have been dilly-dallying on whether to buy a laptop or not… ;-). <br />
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An incident I once witnessed comes to my mind… I was travelling in the general compartment of a local train one Sunday evening. Opposite to where I was sitting I noticed a young couple. The girl was looking ill and was in tears. She was resting her head on the guy’s shoulder and he was trying his best to make her feel comfortable, considering the crowd in the compartment. Soon it was time for them to get down. The guy got up and so did the girl, with much support from her partner. There was a huge crowd of people waiting to get down at the next station and hence, the couple ended up standing in the passage itself. <br />
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A few minutes to the station I saw that the girl was on the verge of puking. She was trying to control herself, given that she was nowhere near the door and would end up creating a mess in the train if she puked. People who noticed her state soon started moving away from her path, lest she loses control. Suddenly, the poor girl, already in tears, started retching, right in the passage, and what do I see…? Her partner cupped his hands under her face, so that she ended up using his cupped palms as a makeshift wash basin…!!!<br />
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Gross… right? But what came to my mind immediately after the ewww… feeling subsided was that the guy had no qualms in doing what he did so as to give a little comfort to his partner… he saved the girl from the despair of not being able to vent herself in the packed compartment. Later, he very graciously accepted the newspapers and tissues I handed him to wipe his palms with, all the time with a reassuring smile on his face towards his partner… To this date, even months after the incident, it still remains vivid in my mind, as an example of true love.<br />
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This valentine’s I want to thank each and every person who has loved, cared and nurtured me throughout… Parents, teachers, friends… and if you are reading this, it means you too are a part of that list. Thanks a lot, for being there…!!!</div>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-8289248842336349962011-10-15T12:55:00.001+05:302011-10-15T12:59:06.856+05:30Changing colorsWhenever I see people with authority, bosses, principals, and the like, I am always consumed with curiosity – how were all these people when they were young, in school and in college? When they were just faces in the crowd like you and me? Somehow, the picture never forms in my mind, so used am I to seeing them on a high pedestal. So I just end up assuming that maybe they were like this always… well, I am imagining a miniature version of my grey haired, pot bellied and moustached boss running around in khaki knickers with a water bottle round his neck and a hanky with his name on it pinned on his front… believe me, funny as it may be, it is wholly unbelievable!<br /><br />So yes, the conclusion is that these were ordinary people at one time, before they were touched by the winds of authority. And once they got the power… poof! The TRANSFORMATION!<br /><br />Many who haven’t seen such a transformation before their eyes might find it hard to believe what I say here. But trust me… this is real! <br /><br />I am really happy for my friends who have got promoted in the recent days. But what gets to me is how their personal relationships change. All at once, I become a subordinate from a peer and a friend. And their interactions with me get limited to getting work done. <br /><br />I am now sent mails with subject lines like – “report expected”,” whats the status” etc, from the same people who used to earlier send me frivolous forwards and indulge with me in random chats.<br /><br />People who used to take queries from me with utmost patience earlier are now saying “main check karwata hoon!” which means, they no more handle these queries, instead, they have subordinates to do that. The fact that we used to use these query calls as a means to catch up in the earlier days is quite conveniently forgotten.<br /><br />People who used to sit with me earlier and crib about the system, the office politics and the like are now a part of the same system – and I end up cribbing about them now…!!!<br /><br />Two things which this scenario brings to my mind are (a) do I need to be more sympathetic to those friends of mine now coz they are under much more pressure than me? (b) as and when I shall go up the hierarchy, will I also change so?<br /><br />It is likely that my newly promoted friends are really under too much stress. The amount and nature of their work has changed and they must genuinely not have time for inanities which they had earlier when they were not at managerial level. With time, it is possible that people adjust and settle down and forge new equations, though not as informal as before, but definitely more workable.<br /><br />And as and when I go up the ladder, these events will have taught me a lot – on what not to do! Subordinates need not cease being friends. The very fact that someone goes up earlier than the others means that he/she is now ready to handle a more leadership role. Being a leader does not involve alienating juniors but taking them along in your new journey. And that is what I hope to follow.SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-28968062131966000502011-10-08T15:53:00.002+05:302011-10-08T15:59:00.470+05:30A Treat to RememberI turned a year older on September 11. Inching closer to the <a href="http://srilaxmiii.blogspot.com/2010/11/how-old-are-you.html">dreaded 30</a>, the only silver lining I was looking forward to was giving a treat to my friends.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the treat got delayed. By the 14th, with no treat forthcoming, my friends started berating me… and I was called a miser amongst many things. But casual ribbing apart, even I was waiting for the opportune day to get everyone together and have fun, albeit for a short time. Around that time, I committed the blunder of telling my friends that I would be treating them at the Trident. It was meant as a joke of course, but my gang did use it to get back at me for delaying the treat…!<br /><br />Finally, a good 10 days after my bday, I managed to get a delivery confirmed from Monginis for snacks and pastries. At 5.30, we met up, after a days work at office. And what followed was even better than what I was hoping for.<br /><br />Mandar, the life of my party, initiated the ‘Happy Birthday’ song singing. Needless to say, it was really embarrassing, but cute. They tired not with 1, but 2 renditions of the world’s most popular song, with me smiling stupidly all the while. The singing completed, it was an indication for ‘Toot Pado’… that is, make grabs for the food. The pastries were awesome and even I was hogging, all thoughts of calories and pimples out of the window.<br /><br />And suddenly, Mandar had this idea… he asked everyone at the table to give suggestions to me for my coming year… sort of resolutions for the New Year, but decided by the others. Well, since people always love giving advice, this suggestion was met with hoots of approval. And this post of mine is my record of the things I need to do this year…;-)<br /><br />Shiv was the first to go. Shiv is a relatively new friend of mine and since the day we have met, his only grouse it hat I am not on FB. So presumably, his suggestion to me was to join FB pronto. Now, I have an inherent laziness to join social networking sites. I had joined Orkut after much persuasion from my engineering mates and never really used it well. With Orkut now on R.I.P. mode and Google Plus raising its head on the horizon, I wonder if FB would get outdated by the time I join it… : -)<br /><br />Hemang and Manjit came up with suggestions of me trying out something new. Hemang advised to me go out and visit new places, try out new adventures, something which I haven’t done much all these years. Manjit advised me to go ahead and do all the things which I keep wishing I could do. I want to learn singing, dancing, crafts, things I have loved all my life but have been pursuing amaturely. Surely, good ideas that I need to implement.<br /><br />Abhi n Mandar gave an advice which I was expecting from them – that I should learn to love myself. Well, I have this tendency to rate myself on the feedback I get from others. Whether this stems from insecurity or lack of confidence, I don’t know. I am much better now than I was a few years back. But the effect of the dose of confidence which I got during my MBA days is now on the wane. So again, a suggestion needed to be implemented fast.<br /><br />And finally, it was Sanket’s turn. And he made good use of his coming last, by hitting below the belt. He said – U should never say things u have no intention of doing. As I grappled to understand what he means, he explained – we were promised a treat at Trident, all we get is Monginis? I was shocked at this meek guy’s so called suggestion which was actually a barb at me… ; -) and couldn’t help but think ‘Et tu Brute!’<br /><br />Well, Sanket’s words opened up a flow of comments, on whether food at 5 star is good or not, and how Monginis was actually quite tasty… soon, it was time to call it a day, a few had to go back to office to complete work and the rest of us were headed home. <br /><br />The evening was fun in more ways than one and this post has locked it in my memories for ever…SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-42058311248186280722010-11-23T23:12:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:51:54.536+05:30Co-Passengers - What a Mixed Lot!<p class="MsoNormal">I enjoy travelling alone on long distance train journeys … after a hectic college schedule (now office schedule) chilling on the upper berth with a novel and dozing off reading it is something which signifies the ultimate rest for me… </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is fun to reminisce about the various co-passengers I have had… some gud, some plain boring… an 18+ hr train journey Is livened up by these specimens!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My journey from Ernakulam to Hyderabad for my MBA project is probably my longest journey alone till date. Saddled on berth 72 in a non AC coach, I knew the journey was going to be tiresome… but what I had not bargained for was a bunch of rowdy bankers off on a department holiday to Hyd. In the evening; the rowdies began singing round after round of crazy malayalam songs drinking what looked like Limca from a bottle, which later turned out to be ‘desi daru’… I tried my level best to ignore the melee and quietly had my dinner. Then I saw the pantry guys coming with cups of milk. I bought a cup…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Hey, don’t drink that milk, that is Camel Milk!” shouted one of the rowdies to me…!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Needless to say, I paid them a deaf ear, drank the milk n dozed off. I was to reach Secunderabad only at noon n hence looked forward to sleeping till 10… little did I know that I would not be allowed my full beauty sleep!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Come morning, I was rudely awakened by someone pushing me… yes, the rowdies! Guess, what?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Are u ok? It is 8 now, since u dint get up we wondered if something happened to u, thanks to drinking that Camel Milk!”, the one waking me up explained.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Of course, I was royally put off… My sleep disturbed, I had no option but to count hours till Secunderabad… God! Wasn’t I glad when the awful journey ended!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This April travelling from Mumbai to my home town alone, I had a different experience with co-passengers. Just in after a particularly stressful week in office, I was looking forward to the trip. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I went up to sleep. The pantry guy came around just then n I ordered a bread omlette for breakfast the next day. I also warned him that I would be asleep and he will have to wake me up and give me my breakfast. He agreed n left.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next morning I woke at well past 9. I realized that the pantry guy has not woken me up and I have to go without breakfast. It is then that a co-passenger uncle came up to me with my bread omlette…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“We thought u looked tired n in need of sleep, so we dint let the pantry guy wake u up and instead, bought ur breakfast for u!”, he said.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was touched by the thoughtfulness of my co-passengers… it was amazing to see people I was meeting for the first time show so much concern… </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kids can sometimes be a real pain to travel with. I remember once a bunch of kids where being exhorted to play ‘Hanuman’ by their parents… making loud noises and jumping here n there, the kids were trying to impersonate Hanuman. Of course, the plight of their co-passengers who had to bear the noise and nonsense all night was not their concern, was it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And then there was the girl who came up to me in my last year’s train journey and enquired plaintively:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“When will you leave? Leave soon, I need ur seat so my whole family can sit together!”, she stated.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have always felt it unnerving to open my eyes in the morning in a train and see unfamiliar faces around me. Whenever I wake up in the train imagining myself to be looking like a wreck I am faced with co-travelers waving cheery good mornings! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I sometimes wonder how boring and long my train trips would be if not for this continuous study in human nature… here’s looking forward to more trips and more vignettes with co-passengers!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-91574740738580429632010-11-06T11:13:00.001+05:302010-11-24T10:09:39.661+05:30How Old are You?Bryan Adams once famously sang ’18 till I die!’… My observation about age is that, one is never fully content with what age he/she currently is… some want to be younger, some wish they could be older… but I feel that life in the 20s really rocks… doesn’t it?<br /><br />Teenagers always find themselves fraught with problems and confusions which seem to be all important. They then wish to get out of the teens and into the 20s soon.<br /><br />People who cross 30 feel they are closer to being over the hill now… 30 is the scary number (even for me!) which signifies the entry into a new decade of life closer to the ‘middle ages’. I am sure people in their 30s feel like going back into the 20s… (I definitely would!)<br /><br />What is it about the 20s which is so attractive? For one, I feel that the 20s decade is very eventful in any person’s life. It sees him move from student life to work life and (usually) then married life. It is the decade where there is a delightful balance of freedom and responsibility. If teenage keeps one under the thumb of parents, the 20s signifies the age of breaking free especially when one starts working thereby becoming financially independent. Also, one attains a maturity in being responsible for himself and learns to make his own decisions and stick by them.<br /><br />The 20s is also usually the age when one finds companionship in the form of spouse/partner. Life changes a lot then but is still enjoyable in its new phase. There is possibility of self discovery along with getting to know your partner.<br /><br />I am currently in the latter part of 20s and still enjoying this phase of my life. But of course, opinions on this differ. I have a friend who loves posh cars. He always makes an observation when we pass a posh car on our way – he says that most posh cars (merc, BMW, etc) are usually driven by drivers and ply paunchy old men. In the 20s, we have age on our side, with the energy and desire to drive on roads in any car we like… but we lack the money for it… :- ) and finally when we make money, age is not on our side and we acquire whatever we wish to (be it car or whatever) but have to depend on others, like drivers. How true na?<br /><br />We always hear statements like ‘Age is just a number, u are only as old as u feel!’… as for me, I love being in this phase and if feeling 20 always will keep me there forever… I m willing to give it a try!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-68116199107111757422010-10-10T20:37:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:10:20.942+05:30Ladies Only30th September 2010 was a much hyped day in Mumbai on account of the Ayodhya Verdict which was given on that day. I have been in Mumbai for just over 3 years now and 1 thing which I have noticed here is the nonchalance which people have towards bandhs/hartals and the like. Probably, being from good old Kerala where even the murder of a mouse affiliated to a certain political party somewhere in Timbuktu will lead to a day long bandh, the non conformance to bandhs by Mumbaikars makes me feel really happy.<br /><br />Well, coming back to the 30th, I found the ghost of 1992 haunting people who had been here at that time. As a result, there was nervousness among the public, a lot of organizations declared an impromptu holiday and the usual indifference of the public was replaced by panic. For me, it was business as usual as I went to office that Thursday, wishing it was Friday instead… Office talk centered around possible outcomes and wagers on them, level of violence expected and so on. It was around 2:30 PM that I saw a notice which left me wondering – the women within the organization can leave on account of violence expected after the verdict (then expected at 3:30 PM)!<br /><br />Understandably, there was a ruckus… why only women? Violence would apply to all, right? The following options were put forward –<br /><br />Some felt that it is because women are more important than men in the scheme of things. Hence arrangements have been made for them to get home before anything untoward can happen. The men would be left to fend for themselves in the face of violence and hence must be unimportant!<br /><br />A few other were of the contrary opinion – Men are more important, the women are likely to get into trouble being on the road when start of violence is expected (i.e. around 3:30 when the verdict would come out). The men can coolly leave after everything settles down!<br /><br />But the final opinion took the cake (and the bakery!)… a particular smart alec commented that, in fact, there would be no violence at all… the women are being sent off early so that at least once, the hardworking men can have a chance to work well without the interference of the women who only gossip and shirk responsibility all the time…!<br /><br />Needless to say, there was a riot at this statement, which was controlled only coz most of the women left in the special bus at 3 PM!!! :-P<br /><br />Anyway, I didn’t leave. And anyway, there was no violence. And of course, I travelled home in an empty train coz most people had left their offices early as a precautionary measure!<br /><br />But at the end of the day I wondered… are women really so much more fragile than men? Can’t they handle a difficult situation well and is that why they alone were sent off early? It seems we still have a lot more to think and do in terms of man-woman equality!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-41811604847494410552010-10-03T19:38:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:10:42.650+05:30In the Nick of TimeIf you stay in Mumbai, u cannot avoid public transport. By ‘you’ I am referring to you, a member of the burgeoning middle class, looking for economical and fast transport. Let us see how the vagaries of public transport can make or break a deal through an incident in the lives of our Vicky n Shruti one evening when they went shopping:<br />======================================================================<br /><br />“Hmm… limited edition French Connection watch eh? For whom? And where did u get the money from?” asked Vicky.<br /><br />“It is for Bhaiyya… And yeah, I have saved my allowance for a long time. Bhaiyya would love to get the watch on his bday… I have told u na how much he loves watches. But we need to hurry; the store person said that there are only 2 more watches left and no more collections are expected in the near future…!” Shruti said with a shine in her eyes.<br /><br />“Why don’t u ask them to just hold 1 for u…?” Vicky suggested.<br /><br />“I did, but it seems it is against their policy … let us take Kaka’s bus which starts from ur office… we shall reach station fast!”<br /><br />“Kaka’s bus? All my colleagues go in that… I can’t risk taking u with me in it… let us go for BEST instead!”<br /><br />“U sure? I don’t wanna miss the watch!”<br /><br />“You can kill me if that happens… trust me!” says Vicky in an attempt to create some humor.<br /><br />They then set off to the Bus Stop.<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />BEST Bus<br /><br />“Hey… all buses for Bandra Station are so full… chalo na, lets go to Kaka’s bus!”<br /><br />“Offo Shruti, have patience! I will ensure u get ur watch… accha, here is a bus for Dharavi; we shall go in it and get a rick from Kalanagar, as it is, rickshaw to the station is almost impossible from here!”<br /><br />Shruti makes a wry face, but complies with Vicky’s suggestion. They get into the bus.<br /><br />“So where is the French Connection stoooor… PHAAATTTT…!!! (Suddenly there is huge noise outside the bus) Hey kya hua?”<br /><br />They realize that the bus tyre just burst… and they are just 2 stops away from where they started!<br /><br />“Oh no… my watch…” Shruti is now lamenting.<br /><br />Seeing her, Vicky reconsiders his decision and they move towards the Kaka’s bus, colleagues and their comments notwithstanding…! Thus they finally reach Bandra Station.<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Local Train<br /><br />Vicky n Shruti reach Bandra Station from where they have to take a train to Vile Parle. They notice a huge rush on the platforms, exceptionally more than usual.<br /><br />“Hey, watsup? Why so much crowd?”<br /><br />They suddenly hear an announcement which states (roughly translated) ‘Due to the snapping of overhead cable at Bombay Central, all trains are running late. Inconvenience caused to passengers is highly regretted!”<br /><br />Shruti is now on the verge of tears. Like a cricket match score update, she has just got to know from the French Connections store that now only 1 watch is left. With the train problem, it seems unlikely she will be able to reach the store on time.<br /><br />“Why is everything going wrong today? When there is no urgency, everything will be on time!”<br /><br />Finally, a train for Andheri comes to the platform. People are hanging from the doors and there is not an inch of space left. But Vicky n Shruti take a chance and travel in the Handicapped compartment (which itself is relatively full with normal people!).<br /><br />At Vile Parle, they almost get thrown out of the train due to the rush… suddenly they notice a Ticket Examiner… before he has a chance to come near them; they manage to give him a slip!<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Rickshaw<br /><br />“Arre bhaiyya Irla chaloge?”<br />“Bhaiyya Irla?”<br />“Irla?”<br />“Oooofff!!!” All rickshaws are moving past them with the drivers giving them looks as though it is a criminal offence to travel in a rickshaw to Irla!<br /><br />Vicky n Shruti are exasperated. Not a single rickshaw driver is willing to take them to Irla where the French Connection store is.<br /><br />“Where do these people want to go? Why can’t they take us to Irla?” Shruti is frustrated with the rickshaw guys. “They need a few more days of Meter Jam. Only then will they stop taking customers for a ride!”<br /><br />Meter Jam was a day when the general public boycotted rickshaws in order to protest their unreasonable ways. But it seems there has been no change in the rickshaw drivers even after the protest!<br /><br />“Shruti I think we should just start walking. Who knows, we might reach Irla faster than just waiting here asking all these rickshaw people who are anyway not willing to come!”<br /><br />Shruti is now in no mood to contradict anything that Vicky says. She dumbly starts walking behind him, hoping that she will still get the last watch!<br /><br />So, slowly trudging all the way, Vicky n Shruti reach the store.<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />At the Store<br /><br />“Hey Vicky look! There’s the watch I wanna buy… but a couple seems to have already shortlisted it! See… that lady seems to be keen on getting it for her partner!”<br /><br />Shruti is now really upset. Will she miss the watch for which she n Vicky took so much pain? She turns around to look for Vicky… hey! Where is he?<br /><br />VICKY<br /><br />The signature tune of Bond 007 is playing in his mind. He is slowly walking towards the couple who has shortlisted the watch. He is as unobtrusive as Bond and he is sure no one is looking at him. He is now directly behind the couple and is waiting for his chance. Shruti is watching him, confused, wondering what he is upto, but knowing better than call out to him loudly.<br /><br />Suddenly Vicky notices that the lady gets a call on her cell. Her attention is diverted from the watch and her partner is scrutinizing the other watch she has shortlisted. Vicky senses his chance… NOW!<br /><br />Vicky springs forwards clasping the watch in his left hand in a diving effort which will make any super fielder’s effort on the cricket field pale in comparison! Shruti cannot believe her eyes! And neither can the lady, who suddenly notices that the watch she shortlisted is missing from the table!! She swerves around in surprise to realize that the watch has been taken by someone else!<br /><br />Vicky rushes to the billing counter followed keenly by the lady… thhaaaaak… he hits his elbow hard on one of the display shelves… not in the position to stop and examine his elbow, he rushes on…<br /><br />“Please bill this on my credit card… quick!”<br /><br />The billing guy must never have seen someone so desperate to bill a watch… Vicky’s desperation could be compared to the hurry of an asthmatic billing for an asthma pump to take a breathe from before his breathlessness gets the better of him… in other words, a matter of life n death!! Finally, before the lady could even stake her claim on the watch, it gets billed and Vicky pays for it with his credit card…SOLD!<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Shruti, who has been numb all the while witnessing Vicky’s efforts to get the watch she wanted is now overwhelmed. They are in a train back home now and she is holding the watch in her hands. An angry greenish blue bruise is forming on Vicky’s elbow where he hit it on the shelf at the store.<br /><br />“Vicky thanks… if it had not been for u, I would not have got the watch!”<br /><br />“Hey Shruti! U don’t need to thank me… but next time…”<br /><br />“Next time…?”<br /><br />“Next time u want to buy something, please please…”<br /><br />“Please what Vicky?”<br /><br />“Pleeeease don’t call me to accompany u…!!!”<br /><br />“Vicky U….!” Shruti thwacks him on his head before hugging him tight!<br />=========================================================================<br /><br />Lost in Vicky and Shruti’s love story is the point that had it not been for the uncertainty caused by the public transport on that day, they would have managed to get the watch without all the drama. As Murphy’s Law states, ‘If anything has to go wrong it will!’ and so it did that day with Shruti. But thanks to Vicky and no thanks to the Mumbai public transport, she managed to get the watch In the Nick of Time!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-7755789133193900382010-09-25T20:32:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:11:06.700+05:30In the Name of GodThere are a number of things we do In the Name of God – we perform long and arduous poojas, we undertake punishing fasts, we chant lots of verses, we visit far off places of worship – but what is the basis of all these doings? Did God really want His devotees to incur so much pain to please Him?<br /><br />Temple visits today have become painful tasks for common devotees. The commercialization of temples is a much publicized fact today. For every single step, there is money to be paid – tickets, Prasad, everything today comes at a price.<br /><br />I recently visited a temple in Karnataka. Due to some renovation work in the temple, the darshan timings had been changed from 4:30 PM to 7 PM. We reached at 4 PM only to realize that we still had 2.5 hrs to kill before darshan. Unfortunately, there was not a single waiting area to be seen. Worse still, it began raining thereby compounding the woes of all the stranded devotees. The security guards were having a field day driving away people who were trying to take shelter under the main roof of the temple.<br /><br />A long and painful wait later, the queue gates were opened for devotees at 5 PM. We finally had a roof above our heads. But no seats were available and we had to sit on the floor till 7 PM when the temple gates were finally opened. Phew! A typical South Indian Temple visit scenario!<br /><br />Usually, no food is taken before any major pooja. But that means, if due to any reason the pooja gets delayed, the person performing has to undertake an impromptu fast…! This happened to me last year. I was up at 6 AM as the pooja was supposed to take place at 6:30. But the pooja got delayed and didn’t take place till around 10:30 AM. All the while I was trying to survive on an empty stomach with just water and some fruit which I was not feeling like to have. Luckily, the ritual was performed before I could faint. How I enjoyed breakfast on that day!<br /><br />I was recounting this episode to a friend of mine who made a pertinent point – my devotion need not be measured by how long I have starved… he asked me to keep some biscuits or something handy the next time there is a pooja at home so I need not suffer like that again. I saw the point – after all, spoiling one’s health is definitely not the motive behind any pooja, right? So this time, I had a few biscuits with me which I munched whenever I felt faint…: -)<br /><br />It is common for people to ask for fulfillment of wishes at any temple, probably famed to be wish fulfilling. When I was in Hyderabad, I visited the Chilkoor Balaji temple there which has supposedly been modeled on the Tirupati Balaji temple. Chilkoor Balaji is famed as ‘Visa God’. The reason behind this nomenclature is that the area around the temple (Mehdipatnam) has a lot of engineering colleges where the desire of most students is to go abroad. They would visit the temple and pray for Visa. Sooner or later the wish would be granted and thus, the name ‘Visa God’ stuck!<br /><br />But I sometimes doubt the rationale behind asking for wishes like job satisfaction, marriage or kid at a temple. Isn’t the fulfillment of these wishes more in our hands than in God’s? And the Pandits then have a good time making the devotees perform various poojas to supposedly fulfil these wishes and thereby the devotees end up spending a lot of money. The dakshina that Pandits earn these days support a lifestyle similar to that of a high ranking official in an MNC (I am not joking!). In fact, in places like Mumbai where devotees are hard pressed for time, Pandits customize the long shlokas making them shorter and less time consuming!<br /><br />As we move in a more modernized era, people should become more rational in their approach to God. But I don’t see any change… and people continue doing impractical things… all In the Name of God!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-64566431315806305492010-09-19T19:48:00.004+05:302010-11-24T10:11:31.508+05:30Wedding VignettesWeddings in the family can be real fun time for relatives having a get together. Though there is usually a lot of work to be done and things get hectic, all that is forgotten in the fun had. And in this melee, there usually take place a lot of incidents which send a laugh around and also make the event memorable for all! Here I share a few vignettes from the various weddings I have attended.<br /><br />`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` <strong><u>Who Kaun Tha?<br /></u></strong><br />2 days before my maamu’s wedding we all had gathered in a circle to arrange the gifts for the guests. The gifts comprised of saris for the women and shirt piece/pant piece for the men. We were putting the stuff into packets and stapling the names of the intended recipients on them. Healthy banter was on and people were generally commenting on the gifts.<br /><br />Suddenly Deepti Aunty (a neighbor come in to help) exclaimed loudly…<br /><br />“Arre, yeh Mohammad kaun hai? Sach sach batao, kisne aapki family main love marriage ki hai?!”<br />We were all flabbergasted as we knew there is no Mohammad in our family and no inter religious match till then. Suddenly we heard my maasi guffawing…<br /><br />“Arre, Mohammad hamare driver ka naam hai… this shirt is for him…. Not for some family member!!!”<br /><br />We all burst out laughing and a sheepish Deepti Aunty joined in soon!<br /><br /><strong><u>Kahin Ye Wo To Nahi…!<br /></u></strong><br />At a recent wedding I attended, I saw a car with a prominent BJP logo on it. I wondered which BJP dignitary had come in, but later forgot about it. Later, Deepu bhaiyya told us how he pulled a fast one on our very simple Chandan Mama with the help of that BJP logo car.<br /><br />The guy who owned the car coincidentally bore an uncanny resemblance to BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Deepu bhaiyya told Chandan Mama that the visitor is none other than the BJP president himself!!!<br /><br />Chandan: What…? But how has he managed to come without a convoy and guards?<br />Deepu: Arre mama, I know him personally, so he has come for a personal visit without informing his convoy!<br />Chandan: I want go do Namaste to him.<br />Deepu: By all means! Just don’t call him by name, else his cover gets blown and word spreads. Ok? Chandan: Ok!<br /><br />Poor Chandan mama went and did a respectful Namaste to that Mr. X of the BJP logo car. Mr. X was surprised, but returned the greeting expecting Chandan Mama to be some acquaintance he is not able to remember (in weddings u do tend to meet long forgotten people after all!). He kept by his side throughout the wedding and later dropped him off at his car (the effect was of course compounded by that huge BJP logo!).<br /><br />Of course, Deepu Bhaiyya let Chandan mama believe that he had met Nitin Gadkari. :- ) And after he left, we were all regaled with the story of this charade. Boy, did we laugh… poor Chandan Mama!!!<br /><br /><strong><u>Bhajji Khao Khud Jaan Jao<br /></u></strong><br />At this wedding I attended, there were a huge number of guests. I was a school kid then and had the company of 7-8 of my cousins of the same age group. At that wedding there was a large variety of bhajjis on platter. Cabbage, capsicum, mixed veg, cauliflower… spicy fried balls of all these and more were to be served to the guests.<br /><br />Now, the caterers were short staffed and so we kids were requested to lend a hand with the serving. And since bhajjis are easy to serve around, we were given the responsibility of the bhajjis. Wrong decision!!!<br /><br />We kids carried the bhajji trays and started slowly moving along the guests’ line. But for every few bhajjis we served, we popped a few in our mouths! This continued till the serving was done. We were thanked for our services and asked to start our lunches. It was then that we realized that we were simply not hungry! The bhajjis had filled our stomachs so much that we had no space left for the main course.<br /><br />Our elders couldn’t understand our reluctance to have lunch. And when they understood the reason, they had a good laugh! I guess they realized we had been punished enough for our mischief by being unable to do justice to the great wedding lunch!!!<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Weddings are funny… momentous event for the couple being united in holy matrimony and fun times for the family having got together for the function. And vignettes like these really add to the charm of weddings!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-26931890707834799032010-09-13T22:39:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:12:06.770+05:30Yeh Rista Kya Kehlata Hai…?Leave everything a little better than you found it ........be it a situation, a thing or a relation!<br /><br />In life, we live with a lot of relations – Parents, siblings, friends, spouse, in-laws, kids… it is a long list. But there are also people we come across in life with whom we share relationships which do not come in any conventional category. These relationships are hardly permanent, if they last long they definitely end up in any of the mentioned categories! But these people enrich our lives in a way exclusive to them and then move away… leaving us reaping the benefits of our association with them.<br /><br />‘Koi sacche khwaab dikhakar, aankho mein sama jaata hai… Yeh rishta kya kehlata hai…?’<br /><br />I had a classmate during my MBA days who is an apt example of the lines above. I have always described him as a candle which burns willingly giving light to others. Though to others the things he did for his friends would appear normal, not deserving such poetic descriptions, people close to him know what they meant to him.<br /><br />Whenever hostel life became too heavy for me, I cried on his shoulder. Whenever accounts made no sense to me (being an engg graduate) he helped me out with his notes. Whenever I felt low, he would push me by telling me that I am the best… so much so that, towards the end of my MBA, I had a huge treasure trove of confidence which held me in good stead through my initial struggle in my 1st job. It was he who goaded me into Finance, which I felt I had no aptitude for. So in that sense, what I am today in my career is majorly thanks to him. I could never decide what he really meant to me… hence decided to put it in the nameless relation category… we are not in touch today… and I could never thank him properly for being there for me… but his is one relation I made which will always hold a special place in my life!<br /><br />A few of my friends have confided in me that they have been close to people, mostly of the opposite sex, with whom they shared platonic relationships which were closer than friendships but shied from getting deeper and after some time, went separate ways. Has this got something to do with the typical Indian mentality which finds it hard to accept long lasting friendships between people of opposite sexes?<br /><br />A few months back I was on my lowest ebb ever personally. I loved being depressed; I loved snapping at people, I basically was enjoying being a shrew, believing that things will never improve for me. But another nameless relationship raised its head in my life.<br /><br />‘Tum jo aaye, zindagi mein, baat ban gayi’<br /><br />What all things had I forgotten in my life which I really loved doing? For starters, he kicked me into restarting blogging. Though a lot many people had earlier advised me to do it, the way he persuaded I felt I just had to do it. Once I restarted writing, I felt like myself again. What things are necessary to keep me happy? Well, according to him, 5 things:<br /><br />1. Wear good clothes<br />2. Listen to soothing music<br />3. Read nice books<br />4. Think good thoughts<br />5. Don’t forget good days<br /><br />Too simple? Maybe, but once I started trying to follow them, I found myself feeling that much better about myself! Today, I am no more the wreck I was a few months back… I am living my second chance (as I said in my <a href="http://srilaxmiii.blogspot.com/2010/08/second-chance.html">earlier post</a>) and am trying to find my own happiness…<br /><br />‘Tujh mein rab dikhta hai, yaara main kay karoon?’<br /><br />I have been lucky to have had these beautiful people in my life… but their real success will be if I can continue the tempo they provided me even after they go their way… Thanks Guys for being there for me…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-17673465052999034742010-09-07T20:29:00.008+05:302010-11-24T10:12:40.255+05:30Karnala Trek<div>August 07, 2010 saw me going to the 1st trek of my life. And boy! Was it an experience!! I frankly had no idea what a trek would entail. A friend told me about the following essentials for a basic trek:<br /><br />1) Sports Shoes with good grip<br />2) Windcheater to protect from rain<br /><br />I was not willing to spend money on a one-off trek by buying the above stuff. Luckily I have cousins who go on treks often. So I borrowed from them!<br /><br />The day dawned pleasantly rainy, just as required. I was just hoping that the weather would be equally good at Karnala Fort where we were going trekking. The usual hiccups of not finding the bus on time overcome; we were finally on our Way!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDLJ3vbDPMRnqxi-scPr1qDk4xSSaGV2cMjEeT3795y8iv-KKNDUntmHeqjMKTyoDsnaKxCdiAJT_Gr16hrFah2LLIcnHfBXeECsxz_3QFZg0TbXKl-NVRLG13z7uZ2P6JbhOcg/s1600/BUS+(PIC+1).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 251px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514215983766230834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDLJ3vbDPMRnqxi-scPr1qDk4xSSaGV2cMjEeT3795y8iv-KKNDUntmHeqjMKTyoDsnaKxCdiAJT_Gr16hrFah2LLIcnHfBXeECsxz_3QFZg0TbXKl-NVRLG13z7uZ2P6JbhOcg/s400/BUS+(PIC+1).JPG" /></a><br /><br />The lovely K Star Woods resort was where we were headed. Once there, we could not wait to get to the trek!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1-aII1xtlt3oPMoDQkiT8tF6MZyf29-AIPF-mO_aWK_VdcD-YjyAgQbHWOhZ5AbBIojEWgGuUTpIKHk39t66Ck1Rg-Z34aKibD443zKjMUmAlY8OOwx5QbEadbs97ztYSe7u7g/s1600/KSTAR+(PIC+2).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 346px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514216002860280754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1-aII1xtlt3oPMoDQkiT8tF6MZyf29-AIPF-mO_aWK_VdcD-YjyAgQbHWOhZ5AbBIojEWgGuUTpIKHk39t66Ck1Rg-Z34aKibD443zKjMUmAlY8OOwx5QbEadbs97ztYSe7u7g/s400/KSTAR+(PIC+2).JPG" /></a><br /><br />Bird Sanctuary<br /><br />The trek was to begin from a Bird Sanctuary which would lead up to the Karnala Fort. The Bird Sanctuary itself wasn’t really great… I could hear a Peacock but couldn’t see it as the grills of the cage were too meshed up. A cursory glance at 3 cages containing birds, we were on our way to the Karnala Fort!<br /><br />THE TREK<br /><br />The Karnala Fort Trek was supposedly a trek for beginners. Hence I was quite cool and looking forward to it. The trek began quite tamely as we were not aware that we were actually on the trek! But once we started slowly moving up, realization dawned. And a few dropped out to enjoy at the resort instead.<br /><br />A few minutes into the trek, I was already panting and wondering how long I would be able to go on. But not one to chicken, I valiantly continued my struggle along with a few others who were also on their first trek. It didn’t help to realize that one half of our 16 strong group was already not visible… they were regular hikers and hence, found this trek child’s play!<br /><br />The route was difficult in patches and plain in others. It always turned out that a particularly difficult patch was followed by plain one, thereby suitably rewarding the trekkers. Here is the plain ground after one very difficult patch of climb… awesome view!!!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZepBWDpK1xfCr4bcKmvFIhlzKfNL-A_2TnvSUS6LEME6TVrpSJ4kpNyyxJwzEZdTu_TkqKM9u8yeti_L2HZlbhi3kbzN6GtiIbUSnSHzdrEXcJd38TFlPQYZ7iR51WL6EmmMpw/s1600/VIEW+(PIC+3).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514216378583484338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZepBWDpK1xfCr4bcKmvFIhlzKfNL-A_2TnvSUS6LEME6TVrpSJ4kpNyyxJwzEZdTu_TkqKM9u8yeti_L2HZlbhi3kbzN6GtiIbUSnSHzdrEXcJd38TFlPQYZ7iR51WL6EmmMpw/s400/VIEW+(PIC+3).JPG" /></a><br /><br />Mowgli<br /><br />Of our group, Bharat was noticed to be the most agile trekker. His nimble steps and confident movement earned him the nick name of ‘Mowgli’. Mowgli hopped skipped and jumped his way through the trek, but not before giving a handy hand to the ones who are not as lucky as him.<br />At one point, when all of us were too exhausted to move further, I noticed the ever lithe Mowgli munching away… hmmm… so what is it that is the secret of the great Mowgli’s prowess? Mumbai’s famous ‘Vada Pav’…!<br /><br />Yeah! Bharat openly revealed the secret of his stamina to be the good ol’ Vada Pav… check out how the glutton is munching away when we are trudging our way through the uneven terrain of the trek!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA6wtQD9h2oc8v_HGZrrlH40W8_AFaGFqSYRQ2tYrGtf_x9OECGJfvaG-5-D6xRyxBfQJQ14fCzn5pN74B7D7FLb-mIKvcQNUCOmRAcEBuSbpsB3qjGdMoSWY8m7zLI1TK5JSeA/s1600/MOWGLI+(PIC+4).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 176px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514216368616175714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrA6wtQD9h2oc8v_HGZrrlH40W8_AFaGFqSYRQ2tYrGtf_x9OECGJfvaG-5-D6xRyxBfQJQ14fCzn5pN74B7D7FLb-mIKvcQNUCOmRAcEBuSbpsB3qjGdMoSWY8m7zLI1TK5JSeA/s400/MOWGLI+(PIC+4).JPG" /></a><br /><br />Special Kids<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdxqtBx4PCEl6Eph72zdezGCZ99n2527qpQlc19iVNjEEWMEr8wyP7CBF-lAY3RxBsuLGcVCyd1aM8mw49W1XE5X_LPZ10HVli3aobwDuK2sfRyW0gFPl0shSO79zA1OI-iXDnA/s1600/KIDS+(PIC+5).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 268px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514216000558446274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWdxqtBx4PCEl6Eph72zdezGCZ99n2527qpQlc19iVNjEEWMEr8wyP7CBF-lAY3RxBsuLGcVCyd1aM8mw49W1XE5X_LPZ10HVli3aobwDuK2sfRyW0gFPl0shSO79zA1OI-iXDnA/s400/KIDS+(PIC+5).JPG" /></a><br /><br />A huge group of kids were also noticed trekking along with us. The little kids were extremely fast and enthusiastic about their outing… made me feel they probably don’t get many of them often… at a closer glance I noticed that the poor kids were trekking the terrain in ill fitting gear. Most were wearing shoes much bigger than their little feet and were clothed in school uniform with nothing to protect from the incessant rain. But still… what attitude… they ran, jumped, crawled… basically did everything to ensure their short frames completed the trek which adults like us were finding difficult to continue. We later came to know that those kids were in fact orphans, brought for a rare outing by an NGO. Kudos to all the people behind the radiant smiles of those under privileged kids. But please… next time, could they have better gear?<br /><br />200 Meters Left…Happy?<br /><br />A long last, we came across a board mentioning the Karnala Fort to be 200 Mts away. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief… I mean, 200 Mts is nothing compared to the distance we had already covered, right…? Hmmm… A small details which the board did not cover was that the fort was at a distance of 200 Mts, but not horizontal – VERTICAL!<br /><br />All of us got a huge shock when we saw the last stretch of the trek. A mostly impossible looking vertical climb with some rusty railings not looking in anyway capable of being held. People who had hitherto been pushed and goaded into completing the trek started losing it now… This is how the entrance to the fort looked to us from where we were standing:<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoT8Kw7R23wflS8j6I2BiEVdGQR0US8mlhxwUMZ7Pv9FDa8MvkHeV0QAyMgq9cnYZ-G_GSoXENsiYElLZiULyQud_r5dIa-q6HyDOFKNJEoHPkTbct8BtOQAAe4ha50_3pWxPvw/s1600/FORT+(PIC+6).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 258px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514215986558745682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoT8Kw7R23wflS8j6I2BiEVdGQR0US8mlhxwUMZ7Pv9FDa8MvkHeV0QAyMgq9cnYZ-G_GSoXENsiYElLZiULyQud_r5dIa-q6HyDOFKNJEoHPkTbct8BtOQAAe4ha50_3pWxPvw/s400/FORT+(PIC+6).JPG" /></a><br /><br />A lot of discussion later, we decided to go for it… of course, with the rider that anyone would be allowed to quit and wait down if the confidence wanes. And thus began our journey to conquer the ‘last legion’.<br /><br />So someone pulled, some others pushed, some dragged and finally, WE MADE IT!!! Yeah! All of us… even the most terrified ones, made it to the fort. And boy! What a reward! The view there was superb. It was pelting rain and my windcheater had stopped shielding me from the rain a long time back. Soaked to the skin I took in the sight of the ruins of the fort. The moats around were filled with water and the whole thing had an old world charm. Due to the heavy rain, no more pics were possible. Hence the moments lie captured in my mind. Here we were reunited with the rest of our group (who had reached the summit earlier) and cheers and victory signs were flashed all around.<br /><br />The return journey was made difficult by the incessant rain which was sending rivulets of water down the entire path making the route slippery. Someone aptly summarized our journey with the song ‘Zindagi har kadam ek nayi jung hai!’… we really did feel every step was akin to stepping into war zone… whether we would slip of sail would only be known later!<br /><br />The Detour<br /><br />“Hey, are we supposed to go down this waterfall or what?”, Dhaval’s started shout unnerved us… a few of us had moved away from the main group and were cruising along, when we realized that we had reached a dead end. There was a waterfall in which we could go down (but we were supposed to be trekking, not rafting!) which was definitely not the right way to go. We realized something really scary… we have taken the wrong route and we are lost!!!<br /><br />The thing that pained me the most was that we would have to go up again to some distance in search of the right path… but there was no other option and we started going up trek again. A few minutes later we luckily spotted a few trekkers who showed us the right way to go down. Thanking our lucky stars, we continued downwards.<br /><br />The distant screech of a peacock made us realize that we are finally at where we started… the Bird Sanctuary. We couldn’t control our shouts of joy as we realized that we have managed to complete our trek successfully. I was also relieved that the trek turned out fine; I didn’t faint, didn’t chicken out and completed the trek well. Cheers!<br /><br />The Aftermath<br /><br />“Aaaargh…!!!”, that’s me, trying to get myself off the bed on Sunday morning. My arms and legs were feeling non existent and I was trying to get up like a laachaar quadruple amputee. I got through Sunday with difficulty but Monday was another story… I found it difficult to run for the bus, I decided not to climb the railway bridge at the station and did not use the stairs in office. Though there was a slight improvement from Sunday, I felt that I had moved from quadruple amputee like state to a weak in the legs like state. Phew!!!<br /><br />But all said and done, the trek was an event to remember… here’s to the health of all of us… Cheers!!!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNQVQkDorgDXY-kLBp8tHC5l7NKt0ZQVJAfrDIfnQmfvdxiogKRIt8aGwEaF5xnki-G__5FHM2vyf5HNkfKd_rdsgTghbgRIx15VLV8AaRuuenar_GgLiunFV53t9jyI4rpIJg/s1600/GROUP+(PIC+7).JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 255px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514215992972861090" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbmNQVQkDorgDXY-kLBp8tHC5l7NKt0ZQVJAfrDIfnQmfvdxiogKRIt8aGwEaF5xnki-G__5FHM2vyf5HNkfKd_rdsgTghbgRIx15VLV8AaRuuenar_GgLiunFV53t9jyI4rpIJg/s400/GROUP+(PIC+7).JPG" /></a><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-72806718480595836032010-08-28T23:42:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:13:05.780+05:30A Naughty Kid!Before u start wondering, let me tell u that the kid mentioned here is me. The stupid things that one’s baby does in its initial days in the world are a part of the treasured memories of any mother. The 2 anecdotes here are ones shared by my mom with me and show me in a real bad kiddy light… check out!<br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Such a Sweet Kid<br /><br />My mom was entertaining guests at home. I was not yet walking, but could crawl, and crawl pretty fast I guess! Assuming the safety of my lack of mobility on legs, my mom left me in the bedroom to do my own thing while she spent some time with the guests. In those days there was no kissan squash. It seems a brand called ‘Fruitamun’ or something was served to drink. We had pineapple squash of fruitamun at home which my mom had just mixed and served to the guests.<br /><br />Now hyperactive me could not keep to myself in the bedroom for long. I crawled out and moved quickly into the kitchen (of all places!). And there I was faced with a bottle of sweet smelling goop – yeah! The fruitamun squash concentrate. I laid my hands on it and…<br /><br />Hearing some sound from the kitchen, my mom n the guests came in to check. And what did they see… the little me is soaked from top to toe in fruitamun!!! The whole bottle of squash had been emptied and I was happily lolling in the sweet smelling stickiness. My mom says that, on getting an audience, I was even more overjoyed and started playing in the liquid even more!<br /><br />What happened next? Well, the guests beat a hasty retreat, n mom carried me (at an arms length probably) and deposited me under a tap. Phew! To this date my mom marvels how I managed to uncork the bottle and decide to bathe in that stuff!!!<br /><br />The Little Electrician<br /><br />Since my mom was busy with my little brother, my dad one day carried me to hospital with him (he is a surgeon). I was seated on a comfortable window sill while dad got busy with his work and a nurse flitted around getting the medicines n stuff as required.<br /><br />Suddenly my attention was attracted by some yellow and red thingies. Turns out, they were actually electric wires sticking out of a loose switch board, some distance from me. I dragged myself to the switchboard with the nurse n dad busy with a patient. I noticed the tiny holes on the switchboard, just the size of my middle finger. I pushed my finger in and clicked on the switch…<br /><br />The next moment I was wailing in pain… luckily for me, the power there was very weak and I managed to extricate my finger in a reflex action as soon as the pain hit. The nurse was the first to reach me and gave me first aid for my shriveled middle finger.<br /><br />Though I know I escaped real cheap, to this day I wonder at my curiosity which made my finger a plug in a live socket. And I still carry a small shrivel mark on my right middle finger…<br /><br />[Uncharitable people have asked me after hearing the incident whether the switchboard and the power in the building survived after being plugged in with me… ha ha… yeah all 3 survived… the power, the socket n ME!]<br /><br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />Again there was the time I almost swallowed an earthworm… ok, I wont to go into that… but these kiddie acts should be remembered and shared with others… and that’s what I just did…!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-17621683567166018142010-08-22T23:21:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:13:49.189+05:30Call u Later... Bye!<p>How many times have you heard this exasperating statement which results in getting ur call cut abruptly? And how many times have u said this to hang up on someone? As far as I am concerned, this is one of the most irritating statements I can ever hear on a call, especially when I am talking to someone I care for. A lot of my friends and relatives have the habit of hanging up promising to call back later, never to actually do so. Hence I have come to the conclusion that the above statement is just a means of hanging up in a courteous way – u don’t intend to call back at all, right?</p><p><br />I guess people who use this statement feel that they can dignify an unceremonious hang-up with it. But I am one of those dumbos who wait till eternity for the person to call again. I feel restless and then end up calling him/her back myself, only to realize that the conversation was anyway deemed closed…!!! </p><p><br />I want to ask the people who make this jhootha promise – what do u gain by saying that statement? Won’t it be ok if you just say a bye casually and hang up? Do you think the person on the other end does not understand? Or do you think he/she is so keen to talk to you that he will not hang-up gracefully and hence u have to dangle him the carrot of calling him back later?</p><p><br />So the next time you hear this statement from someone, make sure to ask a time frame within which he will call back (that will stump him!). If you are in the habit of using this statement unthinkingly, please reconsider ur words. And if those words mean nothing to you, whether you hear them or say them, please, can you let me know the secret of being indifferent? ;-)</p>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-11732510394860324922010-08-17T22:05:00.001+05:302010-11-24T10:14:27.365+05:30A Lovers’ Tiff“So what shall we do this Saturday… I have half day class and so will be able to escape from home making full day class ka bahana… bolo na… shall we go to Marine Drive?”<br />“Shruti, have u thought anything about what u will do after B.Com?”<br />“Vicky, whats this, forget na… lets plan for Saturday!”<br />“No Shruti, I hope u r not taking the CET lightly… there are just a few weeks left and u should become serious about MBA now…”<br />“But Vicky, all these years I was only studying, let me chill for a few months, then I will decide on PG!”<br />“Definitely not! A few months of rest means loss of a year… look at me… in spite of doing my MBA, I m still giving CFA… in today’s world forget graduation, even 1 PG is not enough. Anyway, my CFA Level 2 exams are also due in a few weeks. Nowadays I do not get much time to study in the evenings. So I want to spend Saturday with books.”<br />“Hmph… so ever since we started dating u have lost ur precious study time…?”<br />“Arre, did I say that… I m just saying, along with spending quality time together, we should also make time to spend with ourselves… I see a great future for u Shruti, u just have to make up ur mind for it. Spend some time planning for that!”<br />“Vicky, I never realized that our dates are troubling u so much… (in tears already)… u should have told me na…”<br />“U stop crying, n chalo, lets move now, else we shall be late for home.”<br />“Yes, let’s move, after all u have to study for CFA!”<br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />SHRUTI<br />I never realized that I am a liability to him… do I really trouble him so much? I loved all those evenings we spent together at Bandstand… never thought that all the time he was probably lamenting the loss of precious time! If he feels that I m not spending enough time thinking about my future, it also means that he himself feels he lacks time for that… courtesy me… Anyway, he always confesses that he does not love me yet… does that mean I have been plain pushy all this while? Dragging him with me to dates when he would rather spend time with family, friends or his study? O god, why do I love him so much and why does he not…? No, this is not done, I shall exit from his life and save him all the trouble… he has to do his CFA, he has to go higher…. And I don’t want to come in the way of that…<br />``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````<br />A day has passed after the tiff… Shruti has switched off her cell knowing that Vicky will msg. She spends the day moping in her room. She has had a good cry reading ‘I too had a love story’, not coz of the story, but coz she too is in that ‘I too had a love story’ mode! She is feeling calmer now and feeling that she can do this, after all it is for the benefit of her Vicky, and she will do anything to make him happy!<br />But Vicky Is worried. Shruti has not replied to his messages. She is not taking his calls. Watsup? But he does not give up. He persists and finally, after 2 days, Shruti attends Vicky’s call.<br />“So u succeeded in making me attend ur call!”<br />“Shruti, watsup?”<br />“Nothing, how are ur CFA preps going?”<br />“Hmm… leave at 5 today. We shall meet.”<br />“And what after that?”<br />“You leave that to me. Leave at 5.”<br />At 5, Vicky meets a sullen Shruti. She is ill at ease.<br />“So u dint want to speak to me?”<br />“Hmmm…”<br />“Why?”<br />“Coz I don’t want to be a liability for u, I want u to do what u want always, don’t want to come in ur way…”<br />“Hmm… and did I say u r a liability to me? Don’t u think I treasure the time which I spend with u?”<br />“I don’t know Vicky, I just want u to be happy…”<br />“And my happiness lies with u Shruti, u know why? Coz… I love You…!”<br />“Wh… What…? What did u say?”<br />“What I should’ve said a long time back dear Shruti… I love you and want to be with u all the time…”<br />“Oh Vicky…!” (Shruti is beside herself with joy)…<br />But Vicky has something more to add:<br />“Par shart yeh hai ki MBA ya CFA exam time na ho…!”<br />“Vicky… u rogue…!’<br />And they hug… and the embrace is so tight… it appears they will never let go…SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-4203827095411225122010-08-10T23:44:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:14:49.310+05:30Second ChanceA few days back, I got talking to a fairly middle aged lady at the pool in my club. The lady revealed that she had been a working woman till 3 months back and quit her job coinciding with her marriage. I did feel that it is a pretty late marriage but was taken aback to learn that she has 2 teenaged kids. “It’s my second marriage!” she said. Though I don’t know what happened to her first marriage, fact is that life has given this lady a second chance. She has grabbed it with both hands – she would me moving to Texas soon with her hubby n kids – and would try to live a full life, something she probably missed out earlier.<br /><br />I believe all are dealt a certain hand in life… but there are always second chances. And as a friend rightly pointed out recently, second chances are available to all; not many really take them…!<br /><br />The time in life where one can really enjoy is the student life. But a lot of us miss out on this enjoyment running after grades. And finally, when you are in a job and are running after deadlines and targets all the time, you realize what student life actually means. There is a great freedom in being in the care of parents in a life where the greatest worry is flunking any subject. But sadly, we realize this only when those days have passed…!<br /><br />I had my real chance at life during my MBA. Being in hostel at some point in time is essential as it gives you the right balance of being answerable to parents as well as being responsible for yourself. And I am glad I made the best of those 2 years! Living life to the fullest may not always have a happy ending, but at least you never regret not experiencing everything… right?<br /><br />Second chances also hold a true in terms of the career one opts for. How many of us are actually doing what WE want to do? There are a number of examples around us who left the rat race to do something they wanted to do. Nagesh Kukunoor left a cushy job to make films he believed in, Chetan Bhagat quit the investment banking arena to write novels on simple concepts… a lot of stories like these are seen around us. Maybe instead of doing something as drastic as these guys, one can start by doing the thing he/she likes as a hobby… who knows, it might one day just become a passion and give you the confidence to take that giant leap…!<br /><br />In my life, I feel today I am living my second chance. I have the freedom which I lacked as a kid in a small town, I am doing a job I enjoy, I have the company of friends like I always wished I would… and I have today the will to see the silver lining in every cloud. So here’s to second chances… Hurray…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-67768215696693912002010-08-01T18:24:00.004+05:302010-11-24T10:15:21.146+05:30Dumb Me…!I did something stupid this Saturday and just realized how dumb I am…! Anyone who knows me and has travelled some distance with me knows that I am direction challenged. Never do I get the right-left right… east n west are the same to me, be it anytime, day or night! This situation is heightened when I am in the train and keep wondering till the last minute which side the platform will come. But this Saturday, the blunder I committed really takes the cake…!!<br />Now before I narrate my bungle, let me give u a simple overview of the western Mumbai suburbs around Borivali where I live:<br /><br />(Virar end) Dahisar-->Borivali-->Kandivali-->Malad-->Malwani (Andheri end)<br /><br />On Saturday I had to run an errand at my bank in Kandivali. I also had a visit to the dentist due. I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, go to the bank and later take the bus route 207 (Malwani<-->Dahisar, via kandivali and borivali) to reach the dentist. I also took a single day bus pass of Rs.20 by virtue of which I could travel any Mumbai suburb on that day without further paying for tickets.<br /><br />Work at the bank done, I crossed to the other side and immediately got a 207. Because of my pass, I didn’t have to tell the conductor where I needed to go. The bus was nearly empty. I sat at a window seat enjoying the rains outside. Surprisingly, I noticed quite a few burqa clad girls in the bus, a rarity in the borivali-kandivali area.<br /><br />10 mins later I noticed that till then I had not passed any place I felt familiar. The area looked new to me. But I attributed this to my general lack of direction and the fact that I had not used this route in a long time. 20 mins down, I passed a popular Mumbai college, Atharva, which is in Malad.<br /><br />I got confused… do we have to pass Malad again to get to Dahisar in 207? Common sense told me that that was not possible. Means I am in the right bus, but the wrong direction. Oops!!! I wanted to ask someone and confirm my fears, but to do so would mean a total loss of face… wont they laugh at me! Then I had a brainwave. I asked the schoolgirl sitting next to me:<br /><br />Yeh bus malwani jaa rahi hai na?<br />Haan, 207 hai na, malwani jaayegi!<br /><br />I was totally taken aback! Malwani is a known muslim ghetto (check out Chandan Arora’s recent movie ‘Striker’ set in Malwani). I started thinking what to do. I had never visited the area before and was hoping that I could get back in the right direction soon.<br /><br />I got down at the very next stop, not at all sure where I was. But I crossed the road hoping a 207 for Dahisar would come soon. A few minutes of waiting later, a 207 came. I thanked my lucky stars and got in, this time sure that I had the direction right (obviously, there was no other option :-P).<br /><br />I reached the dentist just in time for my appointment, thanks to the detour I took. Anyway, the incident is too embarrassing for me, hence disclosing it only on my blog… ;-) I am actually very smart, just on a few occasions do I end up making an ass of myself, so please, kissi se na kehna ki Saturday ko Sri gadhi ban gayi…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-87650897051503569202010-07-26T22:45:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:15:41.156+05:30Bolly-mad!I am sitting in front of the TV… ‘Chak de India’ movie is on and the final match is going to take place… Shah Rukh enters the dressing room of his team… at the same time, unnoticed by me, my husband has entered my room and is also watching the scene… the dressing room is energized waiting for the final… here I m also excited, in my mind I have also become part of the team… Shah Rukh is going to address his team one last time before they take the field… the environment is tense…<br /><br />“Sattar Minute…!!!” I say with passion…and my husband jumps from where he is sitting… “Arre are u doing PhD or what, keep quiet!” , he says, startled by my sudden exclamation…<br /><br />A second later, Shah Rukh echoes the same, “Sattar Minute”, as if on cue from me… and I say to poor hubby: “dekha, maine use sikhaaya!”…!!!<br /><br />Bollywood movies have always held a special place in the heart of us bolly-mads. Some actors have had a dedicated fan following due to certain mannerisms, peculiar dialogue delivery or particular dress sense.<br /><br />My friend Vinay has been a great fan of Dharmendra since he was a kid. Not a day passes when he does not say one of the following memorable dialogues:<br /><br />“Kutte, kaminey, main tera khoon pee jaoonga!” (most famous)<br />“Basanti, in kutton ke saamne mat naachna!” (from the classic, Sholay)<br />“Maa kasam, chunn chunn ke maroonga!” (eeks, violent!)<br /><br />He also declaims the dialogues in the inimitable Dharam style which sounds more like he is constipated and just wants to escape after delivering the dialogue…!!! And when he is not sprouting dialogues, he entertains us with ‘Dharmendra Dance’ imitations… who can forget the funny dance moves of Dharam, esp in the song ‘Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana’ ?<br /><br />While in hostel, I had the chance of being with one of the most bolly-mad people I have come across, my friend Reshma. We used to watch movies on the hostel TV, usually when the warden was too busy to stop us or too fed up to do so…! The first time I sat with Resh for a movie was when ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ was being telecast. I love these family movies where things always turn right in the end. I was watching with rapt attention but my attention was repeatedly diverted by something which was sounding suspiciously like the dialogues of the movie being echoed. I finally turned around to check and what did I see... Resh was actually mouthing all dialogues first before the characters…I mean, all of them!!! She gave me an apologetic smile; I guess she just can’t control herself when in front of a bollywood film. And guess what, I almost fell off my chair with laughter when I heard Resh making shehnai sounds which were part of the background score (before Mohnish Behl’s wedding, in case u want to know) exactly in sync with the tune…!!! Now will u call Resh mad or genius? To me, she is just another Bolly-mad!<br /><br />As for me, I have PhDs in a lot of Bollywood movies. And of course, most of them star my favorite Shah Rukh. If I am teary eyed at “Agar Ganga ki hifaazat karna pyar hai, to hai, pyar hai!” (from Pardes), I m lost in the magic of romance during “Paas, aur paas…” (from Dil to Pagal Hai)… I cry when Kajol bids adieu to Shah Rukh standing on the train footboard in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and I cry again seeing salt n pepper haired Shah Rukh n Preity unite after years of judaai in Veer Zaara. Sniff sniff… I need some more tissues now…!!!<br /><br />When I was in school, we used to declaim speeches like ‘Friends Romans n Countrymen, lend me your ears…’! I sometimes wonder if a day will come when a generation of school kids will stand in declamation competitions with the followings entries:<br /><br />“Sattar minute!”<br />“Aadarniya Sabhapti Mahodaya!” (need an introduction? Chatur’s speech in 3 Idiots)<br />“Main kaidi no. 786” (Veer Zaara)<br /><br />And so on n so forth… and on that day, we will well n truly have a generation of Bolly-mads!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-6773653286528053442010-07-20T22:20:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:16:11.756+05:30Atithi Devo BhavaWatching the delightful movie ‘Atithi tum kab jaoge?’ on Star this Sunday, my mind wandered back to the various guests I have had at home. Some used to be really welcome, whereas… well… like Paresh Rawal in the movie, some guests are much better known as pests…!!!<br /><br />One of the most regular guests we had was Doctor Joshi and family. Doctor Joshi was a student of my dad’s during their Med School days and would land up at my home with his wife and 2 kids at least once a month. Though I used to be happy for my dad when they came over (dad hardly interacts with all, Dr. Joshi was an exception!) but for my mom, the situation was different. Once the Joshis came in with Joshi aunty’s mom in tow. Here is my mom’s attempt to be a good hostess:<br /><br />Mom: What shall I get, tea, coffee or thanda?<br />Joshi Aunty: We shall all have tea today.<br />Mom: (happy that she just has to make 1 thing) ok…<br />JA: We shall have 5 tumblers of tea…<br />Mom: yes… :-???<br />JA: One full tumbler of strong sweet tea… for mummy…<br />Mom: (noting in her mind) yes…:-???<br />JA: One half tumbler of strong sugar free tea for Joshi Saab…<br />Mom: (still noting, feeling confused already) yes…:-???<br />JA: One full tumbler of light, sweet tea for me…<br />Mom: (wiping her brow at these hotel type instructions) ok and… :-???<br />JA: 2 half tumblers of light, normal sugar tea for the kids… simple…!!!<br />Mom: (phew!)…<br /><br />Sometimes guests just don’t realize how much they inconvenience the hostess by trying to get everything just as how they have at home… if you want everything ghar sa, they why impose yourself on others at all? Just be at home na… :-P<br /><br />Another guest we used to have regularly was Dr. Raj and his family. This is one guest all of us used to love having. Dr. Raj’s wife Disha aunty was an extremely talented lady… a superb artist, she used to indulge my brother n me by giving us cartoons painted on thermocol to be used as wall hangings. Till date the Hardy which she gifted me painted on thermocol finds pride of place in my room. Their little kid, Rohan, was a joy for us. Disha aunty’s enthusiasm for the arts rubbed off on me also and things like glass painting and crafts are my hobbies till date. When Dr. Raj finally decided to leave our small town for the greener shores of London to pursue higher studies, we were very sad. The day before they left, they came as guests at home for the very last time. I remember being in tears bidding them goodbye… we are not in touch with them today… but I just hope they are having a great life wherever they are…!!!<br /><br />Nowadays, an obnoxious guest I get at home is an old family friend of my in-laws’. Nitin bhai has a word for everything happening in my home. At times he comments on my lack of involvement in the kitchen and at others it is about the absence of a kid. Still other times he has comments on my husband’s weight or about my vegetarian status. He is one guest who takes ‘ise apna hi ghar samjho’ extremely literally, much to my discomfort!!! Needless to say, the days he comes, the clock seems like it is purposely moving slow so as to heighten my uneasiness…!!!<br /><br />Guests are always welcome, but they should realize their limits… as Paresh Rawal says in the movie, guests should come for a short span of time, so that, when they leave, we will wait for them to come back… a guest who overstays his welcome once is never welcome back… so let us all be great guests so that our hosts treat us no less than gods…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-12381397362840724692010-07-14T22:47:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:16:31.207+05:30Pink or Blue?‘The Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri begins with a pregnant Ashima being taken to hospital for her first delivery. The nurse on duty, Patty, asks “Hoping for a boy or a girl?”<br /><div align="center"><br />“As long as there are ten finger and ten toe,” Ashima replies.</div><div align="left"><br />I have been married for some time now and I always get blessings from my elders that I would cradle a baby boy in my arms soon. And each time someone blesses me so I wonder, why don’t they just pray that I be blessed by a healthy baby soon? Why only boy? </div><div align="left"><br />Maybe, in 2010 AD, where men and women are considered at par, the concept for this post might appear very outdated. But trust me, even today, girls and boys are discriminated in a lot of ways. The reason this is not so noticeable is probably coz we are so used to it by now! </div><div align="left"><br />I remember around 3 years back a colleague of mine was distributing sweets in office as he had just become the father of a baby girl. It was his first child and he was quite overjoyed. But then I overheard something which another colleague told him: “Yaar abhi to tujhe darna padega”. </div><div align="left"><br />“Kyu?” </div><div align="left"><br />“Arre paise jodne padenge na dahej ke liye”!!!</div><div align="left"><br />“Kyu, Apan baitha hai na kamane ke liye… ho jaayega”.</div><div align="left"><br />It was shocking to me that, for a 3 day old girl child, her dowry, which would be needed in not less than 18 years hence (which in itself is a social evil), was the topic of concern. And that too for educated office goers!!!</div><div align="left"><br />I remember being told when I was a kid that my paternal grandmother would cry every time her daughters-in-law would deliver girls. After my 2 chachis had 4 girls between them, I was born as my parents’ first born. Needless to say, granny opened the floodgates then also. The next year when my brother was born, there was joy all around. Someone to carry the family name forward… finally!!! Today, I am an individual in my own right, earning a salary which keeps me self reliant, living a life independent of the issues which my mom faced in her generation. I think my granny might have been proud of me had she lived to see me now… watsay?</div><div align="left"><br />A friend of mine used to always scoff at the idea of parents hoping for boys so that the ‘family name’ may be carried forward… hello… r we Ambanis or Tatas leaving behind huge fortunes… or having made some change in the world that our family name needs to be remembered for posterity…? And anyway, today, with the number of women opting for double surnames after marriage or just continuing with their maiden names, family name is definitely an outdated concept!</div><div align="left"><br />I recently saw a news report on honor killings where the general public was being questioned on this social evil. A number of men said that they would be enraged to hear that their daughter/sister had stepped out of the community line. But for the guys, its ok, the slur on the reputation is much smaller it seems…! In today’s day and age, the fact that honor killings take place itself is sad. But to say that the mistake on the part of the girl is bigger than the mistake of the boy reeks of discrimination. Will all this never see an end?</div><div align="left"><br />The last time an aunt-in-law blessed me ‘Putr Santan Yog’, I thanked her, but also told her that as long as I have ‘Santan Yog’, I don’t mind if it is a boy or girl. The old lady was stumped… maybe I shldn’t be so blunt (he he…!). But yes, it is high time we changed our beliefs and also made others around us change and believe in the worth of the girl child..!!!<br /></div>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-27374262970979797172010-07-08T23:11:00.001+05:302010-11-24T10:17:00.706+05:30ChoicesThe ‘Westside’ 50% off sale is on. I happened to be at Kala Ghoda last weekend and of course, could not let go the chance of shopping. Unfortunately, only 1 rack of kurtas was on sale merchandise (cheaters!). But there I had a chance of experiencing human psychology in the event of making a choice, even as simple as that of a kurta…<br /><br />With just 1 rack of sale kurtas, most women were crowded around that rack itself. I had already gone through the stuff and found them to be strictly ok, and hence was perusing through the new stuff (which was not on discount). One round of the store done, I started walking around aimlessly towards the sale rack. There I saw a dark brown n blue kurta being checked out by a lady. Somehow, in her hands and the way she was looking at it, I suddenly felt the kurta is lovely. I felt that it would suit me, even tough I had seen it earlier but not really taken to it then. Soon, I found myself wishing that she would drop the kurta. And, surprise! She actually dropped the kurta to move on. Bang, I was there and the kurta was in my hands. Then, just like me, that lady too seemed to have second thoughts. She turned around and, yes!, saw that the kurta has already been claimed! Seeing her expression I realized that, just like me a few minutes back, she is finding that the kurta is good, now that it is in my hands. But I was not in the mood of dropping it as she had done. I bought it!!!<br /><br />Why is it that the human mind always covets something that is somebody else’s? I had no liking for the kurta till I saw it catch the fancy of another lady. And she realized she wanted the kurta only when she saw that some one else (me!) had already taken it… funny na. We both had a fair chance at the item, but couldn’t make a choice till someone else made it!!!<br /><br />We never truly think of ourselves only while making choices, how it will be taken by the people around us is also important to us. Come to think of it, all the major choices we make in our lives, be it what we study, what we do, where we work, whom we marry, these are hardly made without consultation with people around us. Consensus is what is important, not what we alone think, right?<br /><br />So neighbour’s Chhutku goes to X college, you go to Y, and suddenly you feel Y would have been a better option!! Else you see ur Kaka’s son doing well in a CA firm and feel u should have done CA instead of Engineering… Things like this are regular happenings in our lives.<br /><br />The only possible solution is, think that u and u alone have it great. Maybe the canteen in Y college sucks (whereas ur X college canteen is great!). Maybe Kaka’s son is never at home to spend time with his family (whereas u reach home by 10 pm and have weekends off!). What is good for them might not work for u n vice versa…Bottom line is, these choices are yours. Make them and then, don’t worry about them! Who knows, you urself might be the object of envy for others as much as they are for u…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-54138780923964773022010-07-04T18:00:00.003+05:302010-11-24T10:17:36.571+05:30Oops..Have you ever experienced the thrill of a clandestine relationship… where you have to hide from all and still make the most of your time with your beloved? Sample what happened to Vicky n Shruti, a young couple in Mumbai, out to spend some quality time with each other…<br />=====================================================================================<br />“Stop it Vicky”…<br />“Aw Cmon Shruti, its Bandstand!!!”<br />“That’s just it, didn’t you read the Mumbai Mirror? These residents all have cameras installed to keep a watch on couples… I don’t want to give them live LSD here!!!”<br />“Is it about the residents or are you just worried some footage might reach ur Papa n bhaiyya… Ouch!!!” Vicky ducks the blow Shruti aims at him. “It is you who is always paranoid about coming across my Papa n bhaiyya during a date. Have u ever seen me worried? Trust me, if such a situation happens someday, I will take care of it very well!”<br />“Ok my Rani Laxmi Bai (has to duck again to avoid blows)… shall we move now… else no amount of extra classes will be able to explain your delay in reaching home.”<br />“Yup, lets move, we might be in time for the Dadar local if we leave now.”<br />“Dadar local? Isnt it the one ur Papa n bhaiyya always take?”<br />“VICKY!!! Any more mention of my family n I m not coming out with u again. Have some guts dear…!!!”<br />“Ok Ok… now lets leave…”<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />“Phew… lucky, we are in time for the train… so which compartment?”<br />“Hmm… Papa n bhaiyya are likely to be at the Churchgate end… so we need to take a compartment in the opposite direction. And anyway, in dadar locals, the compartments in the virar end are always emptier than the churchgate end ones!!! Watsay?”<br />“You are the boss madam. The train’s here… move in!”<br />“Vicky, lets move right, I think I know that uncle on the left…” “Ok, right it is…” ”OH SHIT… OOPS…!!!”<br /><br />Shruti sees her Papa n bhaiyya just as they see her… Oops Oops…!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />“Chutki! What are you doing in the general compartment? The ladies coach was empty!”, says Papa. A totally frantic Shruti looks around for Vicky to see that he has thankfully moved to the other side, away from view. Phew! “Er… Papa, there was a typical ladies fight at the entrance of the compartment. Couldn’t enter… decided on this coach instead. Dadar local na… so thought it might be empty”. Shruti is crossing her fingers, unsure whether her story would suffice and also upset at not being able to spend the last few minutes of the evening with her Vicky.<br /><br />“Haan Papa, these ladies, they keep fighting for no reason, even in empty trains”, echoes Bhaiiya (much to Shruti’s relief).<br />“Accha, so u stand here now.” Papa n bhaiyya go into their usual business and maal related discussions and Shruti picks up her cell to message Vicky…<br /><br />“Sorry dear, u ok na?”<br />“I m perfectly ok, u relax Shruti!”<br />“Shit, wat a waste!”<br />“Dnt wry, we will get mre opportunities ;-), btw, I m impresd by ur presence of mind… maan gaye!”<br />“Hmmm… told u na, trust me.”<br />“Yup, now I believe you!”<br /><br />The train journey appears very long with both Shruti n Vicky trying to steal glances at each other but not having the guts to do so due to the presence of Shruti’s Papa n Bhaiyya. The vey long (but in reality 30 min) journey comes to an end.<br /><br />“Chalo Chutki, abhi bus milegi… No. 722”. “Ok Papa”. Shruti is scanning the crowd for Vicky. But she is unable to spot him. She is now very disappointed as she had hoped to silently bid him bye before going home. The stress of the evening is now getting to her as she wants to be with Vicky but cant…<br /><br />“Here’s the bus”… bhaiyya points out and Papa, bhaiyya n Shruti pile in. Shruti feels her cell vibrate, but is unable to check it. The bus is too crowded and Shruti is hanging to the pole. She finally manages to open her inbox with one hand to check the message. It’s from Vicky n says:<br /><br />“Shruti, I m in the same 722… standing at the back…!”<br /><br />Shruti looks back n sees her tall dark n handsome hero looking at her… and she starts giggling… “Kya hua Chutki”, asks Papa. “Nothing Papa, kuch yaad aa gaya.”, n she laughs n laughs…<br />======================================================================<br />In todays fast world, we have no time to think of the days we were young and carefree, like Vicky n Shruti, for whom being caught by parents is the biggest worry in life. Today when we are worried about deadlines, targets, bonus and spouse, life is actually going waste. So stop, think of those days. And I hope my story brought alive some memories to you too… and made you stop n smile in your fast paced life!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-16908453219486870722010-06-25T20:37:00.001+05:302010-11-24T10:17:58.761+05:30Mom & DadJune 20, 2010 Sunday, my day began with a friend reminding me to call my Dad and wish him ‘Happy Father’s Day’. Though these umpteen ‘days’ look like a ploy by greeting card companies to make a fast buck, people really feel happy to be called and wished… especially parents. So I took my friend’s advice seriously and called Dad.<br /><br />Dad was happy I called. He told me something he read in the morning’s paper:<br /><div align="center"><br />‘85% of kids who call their dads regularly remain happy in their lives, but only 25% of the kids who speak to their moms regularly manage to be happy!’.<br /></div><div align="left">This analysis got me thinking. A typical ‘Father’s Day’ type of analysis I must say, but is it true?</div><div align="left"><br />I speak to my dad very little as compared to my mom. The situation was similar when I was in hostel. My mom would call n speak to me daily (thanx to the Airtel Free calls in those days!) but dad’s turn would be only once a week or so. And while speaking to dad I would maintain an air of formality, the talk would mainly concentrate on the studies, presentations and the like. Whereas with mom it was possible to discuss everything- roommate problems, food issues, etc… </div><div align="left"><br />All our lives, we kids live in awe of our dads, but moms are the ones who are bullied around. When I was a kid I remember how dad would never take action against me for any wrong doing and advise mom to do the disciplining… thereby making her look like a dragon…!!! He he… but still, to get something done by dad, the only passage route available was through mom… get her in n she will manage to get dad to agree…!!!</div><div align="left"><br />Today also, I speak to my mom about everything, be it problems at office, work, anything. But when it comes to dad, it is always about how much I am enjoying my work and how life is peaceful. A lot of my guy friends appear to be very pally with their dads. But even they tell me the closeness began only after they stepped into their 20s… earlier, even they were pretty formal with their dads!</div><div align="left"><br />So why is it that kids who speak to their dads regularly are happier than the ones who speak to their moms? One theory may be that with moms, we tend to pour out all our sorrows. Though it is believed that sharing sorrows reduces them, in reality I feel the lesser we speak about something painful, the easier it is to surmount them. When it comes to dads, there is always the idea of painting a hunky-dory picture. We end up highlighting the positives, thereby feeling better…!!!</div><div align="left"><br />In earlier days when moms were typically stay-at-home and dads went to offices, this distance between the kids and dads was understandable. But in today’s generation, neither the mom nor the dad are at home full time in most cases. So will the closeness to mom and the awe of dad still continue or will, with the changing lifestyles, relationships also change?</div><div align="left"><br />I remember the dialogue from Karah Johar’s K3G (its all about loving your parents). It said, baap apne bête se kabhi yeh nahi keh paata ki wo use kitna chaahta hai, aur maa kehti rehti hai, beta sune, ya na sune…!!! Moms have always been more expressive since time immemorial… but dads… </div><div align="left"><br />So on the occasion of ‘Father’s Day’ let us all reach out to our Dads… n let us try to make every day a ‘Happy Father’s Day’!!!</div>SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-50945910329145514262010-06-21T22:51:00.001+05:302010-11-24T10:18:51.096+05:30The First Time…There are a lot of firsts in anybody’s life… events that bring about some change… which help in moving ahead. It is fun to take some time off and remember the firsts of ur life… relive the thrill of anticipation, the uncertainty, and maybe the joy of doing something new.<br /><br />The first time of anything, however trivial it may be, gives rise to a plethora of such emotions. Consider the chill u feel when u first step into a cold swimming pool or a shower… the first instance when the water touches ur skin is torture, but normalizes after a few mins. The first sip of a glass of hot beverage is always the hardest… once ur tongue gets scalded, u can drink easily (;-))<br /><br />My first day in school is pretty vague in my memory… I think I was not crying, instead, I was wondering at the other tiny tots why THEY were crying…!!! I guess I was too well prepared for school. On my first day in hostel during my MBA, the strongest memory is of my dad’s emotional face… dad like all other dads has always found it hard to express himself in front of us kids. Even my hostel warden made note of that fact and pointed out to me one day that my dad was looking very sad to drop me in hostel.<br /><br />The first time is also always the toughest (obviously!)… Sometimes when you remember the kind of fear you had when you were doing something for the first time might make you laugh later… I remember the day I travelled alone for the first time in the Mumbai local… being rush hour I had to travel in the ladies compartment alone… at every stop I asked the women around me if Dahisar (my station) would be next… he he… I have come a long way from that day and the apprehension I felt then is a joke in my mind!!!<br /><br />Remember the time when, in school or college, u mustered up courage to catch the attention of ur first crush… it seems really funny thinking of those days now when u r a professional and the world around you is much more serious than it was in those days…!!!<br /><br />Our Hindi movies also make a great show of the ‘pehla’… pehla pyar, pehli nazar, pehli baar dil ka tootna… reams of script are spent on these things… it is probably true that one does not ever forget one’s first crush, first love… more than remembering the subject of crush in those days, it is the emotion which remains in one’s mind forever…the tingling u felt when the person in question looked at u or the gentle ribbing by ur friends… those memories are indeed priceless…!!!<br /><br />The first time one does anything wrong is also momentous… coz after the first time, the act seems less scary… I do not want to elaborate (for obvious reasons!) but I am sure most would remember some such event in their lives and agree with me…!!!<br /><br />Every day brings about new firsts in ones life… had there been nothing new to look forward to, who would have wanted to get up… so let us remember all the first times and thank those events for being there to spice up our lives…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-66901877796859580512010-06-18T21:23:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:19:12.440+05:30Train ConversationsTrain Conversations<br /><br />Train journeys, as I have said in my <a href="http://srilaxmiii.blogspot.com/2010/05/train.html">earlier post</a>, are an irreplaceable part of life in Mumbai. Since the office crowd generally travels in the same train over a long period, there is a possibility of forging friendships with regular co travelers. Train friendships are quite common in the Mumbai locals. But in my 3 years of Mumbai train travel, I have also come across some different kind of interactions… one off interactions between people travelling together for that journey… bidding goodbye after the journey as friends, probably never to meet again. These conversations help in passing the time faster and before u you know, it is time to get off…!!!<br /><br />Yesterday I travelled alongside one such pair who was chatting. I realized that they have just met. The fat lady was the one indulging in most of the talking while the thin one mostly listened offering sympathetic comments at the right junctures. Sample this:<br /><br />Fat Lady (FL): I have the habit of forgetting packages on train racks…<br />Thin Lady (TL): (Sympathetically) that’s bad…<br />FL: Yeah… once I left this lovely lunch box-water bottle combo… I had just purchased it from Marine Lines… so beautiful they were… costed me 300 bucks… imagine…I lost 300 bucks on the rack…<br />TL: (sympathetic clicks of the tongue)<br />FL: You know, I had also bought a lovely saree on the same day, luckily I gave it to my friend for safe keeping… else I would have lost the saree too…<br />TL: (coudnt u give the other stuff also to your friend?) yeah that was really lucky for u…!!! ;-)<br /><br />Needless to say, for FL the journey might have felt very short… I hope the same was the case with TL!!!<br /><br />Another time, in a crowded Virar, I witnessed a conversation between a very Posh looking lady carrying a stylish small clutch bag and a simple service class girl looking tired after a long day in office. Here’s what transpired:<br /><br />Posh Lady (PL): That’s a nice bag you have.<br />Simple Lady (SL): (probably surprised at the praise of her very unstylish utility bag) ohh… thanks.<br />PL: You might be able to keep a lot of stuff in it na…?<br />SL: Oh yes, the usual things apart I am also able to keep my tiffin box and water bottle.<br />PL: And look at me… mera yeh chhotu sa bag… I can’t keep a thing!!!<br />SL: (smug, no comments)<br />PL: Where did you get the bag from?<br />SL: This bag is easily available… you can get it at Borivali market for 150 bucks…<br />PL: That’s great… I m going to Borivali Market this Friday…!!!<br />End result being both PL & FL enjoyed their journeys…<br /><br />Trains are actually a study in human nature for a person who is new to them. I have seen women in groups berating their mothers-in-law, singing ‘happy birthday’ for someone turning a year older, sharing goodies with regulars, etc. No one even knows the others’ names… but probably, this world away from office and home is a time when most chill… and though inane at times, train conversations might go a long way in easing the minds of the speakers and helping them look forwards to the responsibilities waiting for them as they step out of the compartment…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10393429.post-29757895060177801392010-06-15T22:05:00.002+05:302010-11-24T10:19:46.982+05:30Lingua francaIndia, though one country is a study in diversity. And for me, most fascinating is the number of languages spoken here… language in itself is an amazing concept… how some sounds might be gibberish for a few but might make perfect sense to some others…! I have always had great fun in trying to learn nuances of a new language from any friend of a different region… as a result I have working knowledge of most languages in the south plus a few languages commonly heard in Mumbai, my current base.<br /><br />But languages in India are also now becoming a means to segregate people… at one time India had unity in diversity, now it seems vested interests see language as a means for creating divisions…<br /><br />The situation in Maharashtra is quite well known, thanks to the excessive media coverage of the propaganda by a very charismatic regional leader. Mumbai has progressed (???) from the 70’s where the agenda was to send back the South Indians (Idlis or Madrasis to most!!!) to today where the agenda is to send back anyone who is not Marathi Speaking.<br /><br />Linguist that I am, I have a good working knowledge of Marathi. Anyone with common sense would agree that language can only be learnt by speaking to the ones who are fluent. But I have noticed that people here hardly give me a chance. I am greeted with laughter ever if I speak in the local language due to the difference in the pure accent. So guys, if you laugh at me, how will I learn…???<br /><br />I recently visited a city which I love, Chennai. Tamil is a language I love hearing, and am quite fluent speaking it, along with being able to read and write the script. As a result, I love it when I am surrounded by people speaking Tamil. This time too, I had 3 days in Chennai speaking the language of the land with the people. And my!!! What a response I got…!!! People were overjoyed whenever I spoke to them in Tamil. My request for traditional ‘Sambhar-Rice’ at a restaurant for lunch amazed the waiter so much… he had actually come with a bowl of Dal to serve me…!!! I have forever believed ‘In Rome, do as the Romans do’. And it has held me in good stead always.<br /><br />But I was witness to a disconcerting incident in Chennai too… I was at the tourism office with my parents waiting for the bus to Tirupati. The bus was delayed. I had conducted all the enquiries at the desk in Tamil eliciting a favorable response from all. They were very helpful with the replies and I was asked to wait for the bus. In came a very tall guy who moved to the desk and began requesting for information in English. Here is the conversation between the Tall Guy (TG) and the desk…<br /><br />TG- I need info regarding the rates and trips for Tirupati.<br />Desk – Where are you from?<br />TG- From here itself (confused at the question).<br />Desk – Are you Tamilian?<br />TG-Yes, from (XYZ) village.<br />Desk (shifting to Tamil from English) – Why are you speaking in English if you are a Tamilian? Don’t you know we have a rule here… no signboards except in Tamil… no speaking except in Tamil. Don’t you know that Kalaingar (Karunanidhi, I think) has asked us to be true to our mother tongue? Then how dare you come here and speak foreign language?<br /><br />Needless to say, TG was nonplussed and beat a hasty retreat. As a witness to the whole conversation, I understood what language fanatics were all about. They would have accepted if I had spoken in English, coz I am not a Tamilian. But I checkmated them by conducting the conversation the local tongue. But poor TG will never speak English in Tamil Nadu again!!!<br /><br />I believe that any language is beautiful… be it the hoarse North Indian dialect or the lilting South Indian words. And above all, isn’t it that I find the South Indian words lilting coz I make sense of them more than I make of the North Indian dialect? So enjoy the diversity and find unity in it…!!!SRILAXMIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10899873968375590586noreply@blogger.com3